Sea Mist

Last weekend I secretly paid my neighbor to say something to Jay about getting my flower bed dug out and it worked.  =)  I had told him he has until May before my transplanted perennials, that I’ve moved – again – and were wintered in pots, would need to find a home in some dirt with room for their roots.  So Saturday, the last day in April, he got it done.  I love the possibilities of a new flower bed.  I took this picture late in the afternoon.  This is the sunny side of the house and will receive the heat of the summer days.

I was a little worried that my perennials may not have survived the winter.  Because our move came so quickly and unexpectedly, last October I took my perennials out of the ground, stuck them in individual 10 lb. buckets and put them up against the north side of the house to wait for our move.  It got cold.  It snowed.  And I was concerned.  In the middle of January my father shoveled through a high snow drift beside our driveway so he could go back and dig out my buckets, load them in his car and move them to our new address.  This time we placed them up against the house, under the deck and I hoped they would survive the remainder of the winter.

And they all did but 3-4 of them.  My lambs ears didn’t survive, along with a pot or two of daisies,  but my most favorite perennial survived.

I know it only by Sea Mist.  I’ve had it for at least 12 years.  Originally I had it in the Day 5 section of my Creation Garden.  Not exactly sure why it’s my favorite.  But I’ve learned that it simply does not like to be moved and I’ve moved mine to four different addresses.  It wilts almost instantly when it’s moved and it takes forever to bounce back.  On Saturday I was anxious to get it in the ground.  I knew if I waited much longer it wouldn’t bounce  back enough from a wilt to bloom later this summer.  Jay dug a good size hole for me and we gently pulled it from the extra large pot I had put it in last fall and situated it into its new home.  I continued to work around with other things keeping my eye on it and ya know what – for the first time it never wilted.  I told Jay I wonder if it knows it’s finally home.  He thought it was because of the guy who planted it.  =)  I think both may be right, along with the fact that the pot may have been large enough that the roots didn’t get disturbed much. 

I’ve looked online to try and find what it is.  The closet thing I can find is this:  Nemesia caerulea ‘Sea Mist’ AGM

The color is right.  The form of the flower petals is close.  But the description of the foliage and growing style is way off.

Those three or four stems growing above the lower foliage will grow up to about 4 feet and blooms later this summer.

A close-up of the leaves.

I’m think I purchased this plant from a catalog.  I’ve not seen it anywhere else around my area – it’s not a common perennial here – at least not what I’ve seen.  But maybe I’ve just not gotten around.  Anyway – I’ll find the name.  It’s the hunt that I enjoy.  I’ll take pictures as it grows this summer and possibly get to a garden center for some expert help.  In the meantime I’ll keep looking online when I have some free time to hunt.

But mostly I’m going to enjoy watching it grow close up.  It’s always been out in a flower bed but this time I planted it close to my front door.

If any of you know what it is, please share your knowledge.

To be continued.